Life After College
by Meredith-Katherine Burke
Summary: Part Three of The Love Triangle and All Grown Up College Days. Rejoin Alyssa, Audrey, Jake, Sarah, and Kevin as they have entered the adult world and even more drama
1. Chapter 1

!JAKE'S POV!

It's been about six years now since we last left off. I feel like so much has happened, but yet nothing has changed. Alyssa and I were married and had the twins. We tried to make it through college while raising a family all at the same time. I can't tell you there was never a day when I just anted to give up, but I think Alyssa and I did a good job of getting the twins and ourselves through that time. It seemed that right after graduation, Alyssa became pregnant yet again and 9 months later, we had another baby girl and named her Crystal. Once again, I just went along with whatever she wanted. We had decided to move back to Chicago because L.A. was not a good place to raise a family. The funny thing is all of us (Sarah, Kyle, Audrey, Kevin, Alyssa and I) live on the same street, just like when we grew up. It seems that fate just keeps bringing us together. I liked it this way though. That way, we could still all hang out. It was a good thing for the kids too, because they were really close especially Rylee, Cayden, and Dylan because they were only a day apart. I'm in a job with computers. I'm not sure how it all came up this way, but I really enjoy my job. Alyssa stays at home most of the time, but is starting to take up interior design, another passion of hers besides acting. When we moved, she decorated the entire house and I have to say, she did a really good job. Also, in my free time I had taken up guitar. I had started learning in high school but didn't really take it seriously. Our children are great. They've developed their own personalities already. Cayden has my hair, but blonde and is already showing interest in skateboarding. That's my boy. Rylee has Alyssa's hair, but light brown but she looks exactly like Alyssa. She hangs out with Cayden a lot and so they are in to a lot of the same things. Crystal is so hilarious. She has an attitude and at this age, is cute. She has blonde hair like Cayden and is into girly things like dress up and has gotten into Alyssa's make up quite a bit. Life is looking good. For now anyway. We are famous for drama, as you know.

!AUDREY'S POV!

Six years down, the rest of my life to go. I feel as if I've grown up so much. I had to grow up. College is one of those life changing things apparently. No one warned us. Kevin and I got married during the summer after our sophomore year. It was a beautiful wedding. The best day of my life. I changed majors from acting to psychology after realizing what my true passion was. Once we got out of college, Kevin and I moved back to Chicago along with everyone else and started our family. Alyssa and I ended up giving birth around the same time. We both had girls. Kevin and I named our little girl Eve. She's two years old now and has the biggest personality I've ever seen. I'm pretty sure that she's destined to perform already. She sings and dances everywhere she goes and she comes with the dramatics. Eve had Kevin's brown eyes, but my brown hair. She and Crystal absolutely love each other. They're really into make up. Kevin got his dream job as a Kindergarten teacher. I can tell he's happy with where he's at. I just got a job as a Child's Psychologist and pretty much talk to children all day, helping them get through their tough situations. Jake and Alyssa live next door, which Sarah and Kyle live across the street. I really can't believe that we're still all together. Fate is really doing us a favor. Tonight, the gang is getting together for dinner and a children's play date. I have big news to tell them, though.

!SARAH'S POV!

Six years and a bunch of kids later, all the gang is still together. Audrey and Kevin have 1 girl, Kyle and I have 2 boys, but Alyssa and Jake are in the lead with 3. It's hard to believe that we all moved to Chicago and live on the same street, but it's true. It's something out of a movie, really. After college, Kyle and I jumped on the bandwagon and had another little boy, Tyler. Dylan ended up having Adam's random green eyes, but my brown hair. Tyler is the spitting image of Kyle, though and I know Kyle is proud of that. I decided to leave the whole Adam situation alone. I figured if I did, he would leave me alone but if I turned him in, he would try to get even and I don't think I can handle that. Not with my own kids and nieces and nephew being around (even though I'm not related to Audrey or Kevin, I still consider myself Aunt Sarah to their daughter). I finally figured out that I can't really have a career in sports and be a Mom all at the same time, but I recently got the idea of starting my own cafe'. Kyle is in advertising, but he coaches boys' soccer on the side. I figured that the cafe near UCLA played a big part of all of our lives. We went there when we were sad, happy, when we had to think, study or even just because we were thirsty, why not bring the same joy to teens here? Besides, after figuring out that I couldn't lead a life as a professional athlete, I couldn't think of much of anything else. Right now, life is great, but as you know, things can always change drastically.

!KEVIN'S POV!

Six years. Wow. I must say, I enjoy being out of college and starting a family, but I can't say that everyday is easy. Audrey and I got married after our sophomore year and started a family once we moved back to Chicago. Not long after graduation, Audrey and I had a baby girl, Eve and Alyssa and Jake had a little girl as well, Crystal. They are best friends and are practically inseparable. Sarah and Kyle also had another child, but a boy. He too gets along well with the girls. I got my dream job as a teacher. I have a kindergarten class of 20 five year olds and it couldn't be anymore fun. Audrey got a job as a child psychologist, which definitely has it advantages with dealing with my students. It also has its advantages with being parents. Since we both work with kids all day, we can be better parents. Jake is still my best friend but we unfortunately, we don't get to hang out as much as I wish we could. But I guess that all comes with growing up and having a family. Eve quickly became the love of my life, aside from Audrey. I love everything about her and she has a personality the size of the Grand Canyon. I can see a lot of her mother in her. I couldn't ask for anything more in my life, but we're soon going to be getting more nevertheless. Everyone else will find out at the get together.

!ALYSSA'S POV!

A lot has changed in the past six years. And I mean a lot. Jake and I had another girl right after college and named her Crystal. She looks a lot like Jake, besides having my hair but her personality is a lot like mine. Rylee and Cayden absolutely love having a little sister, especially Rylee. They have really taken her under their wings. We now live in walking distance to everyone... in Chicago. I feel really lucky though, at age 25. I am already happily married to the love of my life, have 3 amazing kids, and have the same friends I've had since middle school. Another plus is that we live close to Jake's parents and my mom so they can see their grandchildren anytime. Most people would kill to have the life that Jake and I share. I decided back in college that acting wouldn't really get me very far in life so I took up interior designing instead. I absolutely love it and get really into it. I decorated our house and helped with Sarah and Kyle's and Audrey and Kevin's too. I figured that I didn't want to start actually working until the kids were a little older though, I wanted to be there and it would be hard since Jake has a job already (and a pretty good job at that. He actually makes quite a bit). I just can't believe how things went from being so horrible and heartbreaking to being so amazing. But as you know, drama never fails to find us.

!KYLE'S POV!

Six years and two boys. Do I need to say much more? After having Dylan and getting married shortly after, Sarah and I graduated college, moved back to Chicago and had Tyler. Being a father is more than I could've ever imagined. I'm pretty sure these two boys have completed me. Luckily, I'm not completely ignorant like I used to be. At first, it was kind of odd taking care of Dylan, since he's not biologically mine but that quickly faded and now, I don't even view it that way. In my book, they're both mine and nothing can change that. I was the one that raised them which really makes me his father. Not that slime ball Adam. I got a job in advertising which is right up my alley, but I still coach a boys' soccer team which is a lot of fun. I definitely need that for leisure. I decided to coach recreational soccer and not play professional soccer for Sarah, Dylan, and Tyler's sake. They didn't need a dad who is always gone and I don't think I could stand being away from them for that long. We now lived really close to everyone else, which is pretty amazing. Barely believable you might say. And as usual, right now my life looks great, but drama seems to live in us somewhere.


	2. Chapter 2

!JAKE'S POV!

"Hey Jake, could you bring the macaroni out here?" Audrey asked from outside on her deck. We were all having dinner at the Clark's house. It's something we do just about every month, alternating houses. "Yeah. Hold on." I pick up the macaroni as Cayden runs past me with Rylee not far behind. "Hey! No running in the house!" Audrey's a neat freak and her house still looks as nice as the day Alyssa first had done the house. I heard something crash. I set the macaroni down and run into the living room. I got there to find Rylee and Cayden standing over a smashed vase. I sighed and Cayden shoved Rylee. "Dude, that was all your fault." "Nu uh! You knocked it off!" "Well, that's because you pushed me!" They started pushing each other harder, so I went and pulled them apart before they broke anything else. "What's going on?" Audrey asks as she walks into the room, wiping her hands off on a towel. She looks at the broken vase and at Cayden and Rylee. "We're sorry," Cayden says. Audrey sighs and brushes some hair out of her face. "It's all right. It's fine. Just go outside so you won't get cut on anything," Audrey says waving her arm toward the door. The twins run outside, while Audrey bends down to pick up the broken pieces. I sighed again. Those kids were always getting into trouble, not necessarily on purpose though. They were actually good kids. They obeyed for the most part and even when they didn't, they were too cute to stay mad at for long. I turned to Audrey "I'm sorry. We'll pay for it." "No, it's fine. Don't worry about it. I didn't like this vase anyway. It was a gift from Kevin's parents," she said as she got the pieces up into the towel. "You can go take the macaroni outside, though." "Oh, right. The macaroni," I say. I walk into the kitchen and pick up the macaroni and walk out onto the deck. The sun was starting to set. I trip over Eve and Crystal's fake high heels and almost drop the macaroni. I finally make it to the table and set it down safely. I sat down next to Alyssa as she asked "What happened in there?" "Rylee and Cayden broke a vase." She let out a sigh. "They were running in the house weren't they?" "Yeah." She shook her head. "I don't know how many times I've told them not to." Just then, Kevin got our attention and said "Ok. I can't take it anymore. Audrey and I have some good news." "Well, wait for Audrey to get out here before you tell us," I say. Kevin looks around. "Oh, right. Audrey! Come out here! I want to tell them!" Kevin yells. Audrey comes out, carrying a bowl of something. "I think that's all of it. What did you say Kevin?" "The news. I want to tell them the news." "Oh. The news." Audrey smiles. "Yeah, we have some news." There was some silence "Well? Are you going to tell us?" I say. "Do you want to tell them?" Kevin asked Audrey. "You can tell if you want" "No. You should tell them." I guess Sarah got sick of it. "It doesn't matter who tells us. Just tell us." They started turning red and then Audrey spoke up "We're going to have another baby!" "Oh, Audrey! That's great!" Alyssa said, standing up and hugging her sister. After we all hugged and congratulated, Audrey spoke up again. "Ok. Enough about me. Let's eat. Kids! Time to eat!" A herd of kids make their way over to the deck. Luckily, we had a separate table for the kids. That way, the table wasn't as crowded and we adults actually got to talk without as much interruption. I actually looked forward to when we had these things. Everyone got so caught up in what was happening with them that we didn't get to keep up with our friend's lives as much. These get togethers actually gave us a chance to do that.

!KEVIN'S POV!

Everyone was over for dinner and Audrey and I were planning on telling them the good news. I was so anxious to tell them I couldn't wait any longer. I got everyone's attention and was about to tell them but I guess I was so excited about telling that I didn't notice that Audrey wasn't even outside yet until Jake reminded me. We finally got the news out and everyone was happy for us. We started dinner as the sun was setting. I really love our backyard at this time of the day. Sarah told us how she didn't have any plans for work right now, but she's thinking of some things she could do. Kyle tells us how his soccer season starts soon and that everything is going good with the whole advertising thing. Jake says he's going to start working for a promotion he's had his eye on for awhile. Alyssa says she doesn't think she wants to start interior designing full time yet because she still wants to stay home until the kids get a little older. For the most part, everyone seems pretty happy. It's really weird though, things for us are either really bad, or really good. There's no in between. And usually when things are bad for one of us, they become bad for all of us. I'm thankful that we all have each other to go through those times with. Otherwise, I'd probably end up killing myself. "Uh oh..." I can hear Eve's voice ring. I look over and she has spilt grape juice all over her white shirt. "Aw, honey!" Audrey said while standing up. "I told you to be careful." "I'm sorry, Mommy," Eve says, looking down at her shirt innocently. I started thinking; we were going to have to go through this again, with another kid and everything. Sure, it will great having another one but there were times raising Eve that I felt like I was going to explode. Most of those times were in her infant years, where all she did was cry. I snapped back into reality when I heard Alyssa ask me to pass the mashed potatoes. Audrey took Eve into the house, to change her shirt, I would guess. I pass Alyssa the mashed potatoes. Rylee runs over to Jake. "Daddy, Cayden called me a baaaaad name." Jake stands up. "What?" He walks over to the kids' table. Alyssa smiles painfully at me. I laughed. "Kids" she said shaking her head. "Yup." I started thinking even more about having to raise another kid when Audrey came back with Eve and sat down "You ok honey?" I smiled at her. "Yeah, I'm just fine." I think this is an area Audrey and I will disagree on in the future. She wants to have a big family and I will be perfectly happy with two kids. I tell myself not to worry about it now and worry about it when that situation gets here. "Can you pass the macaroni?" I ask Sarah.

!AUDREY'S POV!

Well, I had broken vase and white shirt stained with grape juice. I hope things won't go any worse. Kevin and I announced our news of expectancy and everyone was excited for us, of course. The rest of the night was full of conversation and catching up. At around 9:00, everyone was finally left. Eve was already half asleep by the time we got her to her room. Now the house was silent. I walked into our bedroom, where Kevin was just sitting on the bed in a daydream-like mode. "Are you all right, Kevin?" He looks up. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just thinking." "What are you thinking about?" "Oh, work and kids and stuff." I get a giddy feeling all over. "Are you excited about having another baby?" "Oh yeah. Definitely." "Funny. It doesn't seem like it." "What are you saying, Audrey?" "I don't know. It just doesn't seem like you're excited about having another one. At least not as excited as you were when we had Eve." "I don't think it's sunk in yet." "Oh. Well, all right." "Don't worry Audrey. I'm excited." "Ok. I believe you." But on the inside, I didn't believe that statement myself. The next morning, I woke everyone up, made breakfast, got Eve dressed and got her to daycare. I love my job, I really do, but I don't really love how demanding it is. The hours are early and sometimes I end up staying back late finishing up work. Today my first client was a little boy who's just gotten out of a broken home. Now he's living with some foster parents who have entered him into our program. He sits on a couch across from my big arm chair. "Hi Christian. How are you this morning?" He doesn't look at me. "Good." We go on from there and I ask him about his favorite food, colors, and movies. Pretty much anything and everything and then I gradually ease into his home situation. "Did you love your mommy?" He doesn't look at me anymore. "No." After he says this without hesitation, I feel as though I want to be his mother for him. To show him what a loving home could be like.

!SARAH'S POV!

We were all over at the Clarks for our monthly get together I guess you could call it. Hanging out with everyone is a lot different now then it used to be. We have kids now and hanging out with everyone is a lot rarer, which is sad but true. We always pick up where we left off last, though. The night was great, filled with broken vases, fun, and good news. The next morning we have to go back to reality, though. I'm still at home, chasing after Dylan. He's very hyper. It's a tiring job. I still have a lot of thinking to do if I was every going to open the cafe I wanted to open. I had barely thought of anything and opening your own store, even just a small cafe, is a lot of work. It was hard though, balancing being a mom and working and still being able to spend time with friends. I could ask Kyle about it since he's in advertising. I decide to ask at dinner that night. "Hey Kyle, do you think you could give me any help with my business?" He eats a piece of salad. "What could I do?" "I don't know. You're in advertising. That has to do with businesses, right?" "Well, I guess it does some. But what exactly do you want me to do?" "Well... I don't know... whatever you can I guess." I was desperate for help. I would certainly need it if I was going to open this cafe by the time I'm 30 and I would take any help at this point. "Well, I could help you with... advertising." I look at him. He really is trying to help. "I guess that's a start. I mean, I need to find a place I can actually have the cafe'." "Yeah, that'd be good. I'm sure there's a place for lease somewhere." He assured me we would look for a place soon and he would help but right now I just wanted to get the dishes done, and crawl into bed early because like I said before, being a mom is definitely tiring.

!ALYSSA'S POV!

When we all got caught up and when all the kids were falling asleep in various places Jake and I decided to leave. After we put the kids to bed and got ready for bed ourselves I sat down next to Jake on the bed and closed my eyes. It had been a long day and I was ready to sleep. I opened them again when Jake started talking. "Oh yea, I almost forgot. I'll be coming home a little later than normal next week." "How much later?" "Not much later. Maybe around 7 or 8." He had told me a few days ago that his boss was going to start looking at him for a promotion. I didn't really understand a lot of the terminology he had used (I'm not a computer geek) but apparently, some guy who was pretty high up was fired and his boss is looking for someone to replace him. All I know is that this whole staying later thing better not last long because it's hard enough raising 3 kids WITH him around, it'd be even harder if he was gone a lot. I tried not to think about that now though. I focused my attention tonight and how Audrey told us she was going to have another baby. It was kind of funny that when we were growing up she had a set plan for everything and she wanted a lot of kids and I didn't really think about it and I was the one with the bigger family so far. Then THAT got me thinking if Jake and I were going to have any more kids. I really didn't know. We never really talked it before. I mean you would think that with 3 kids, we would have talked about it before but we haven't really. None of our kids were planned...they just kind of...happened. Oh well, no need thinking about it now. I need sleep.

!KYLE'S POV!

Our get togethers were fun. I never really enjoyed them when they were at our house, though. Good thing it was at Audrey and Kevin's house this time. The next night Sarah started asking me about businesses and advertising. I didn't want to tell her that I didn't know anything about businesses. I just know about advertising. I mean, she was the one who got the degree in business, she knows more about it than I do. But I agreed to help her with whatever I could though. I told her I could do all her advertising and I would help her find a place to rent. "Son, sit down and eat your food," I say to Dylan who is dancing around the kitchen. Tyler is sitting down quietly, eating his food. I don't know why Dylan is so much more hyper than Tyler. I guess Tyler has my laid back persona, which comes in handy sometimes. He's hardly ever getting into trouble. The only time when he does is whenever Dylan drags him into another one of his schemes. After dinner, the boys watched a little TV while Sarah and I cleaned up and then we put them to bed. After both were asleep, we went back down to our room. "Kyle, I need to get out of this house," Sarah says, heaving a huge sigh. I could understand. Sarah is such an active person. "Well, you're going to be starting your business soon." "I know." "Well, that will give you some time to get out of the house." "Yeah but that seems so far away. I need to get out now." The solution seemed obvious to me. "Well, then... I guess... get out of the house." "I wish it was that easy."


	3. Chapter 3

!JAKE'S POV!

"Hey Jake!" Audrey says as I answer the door. Kevin and Eve are behind her carrying a covered dish. She's about 10 minutes early. That's always like her. Audrey is always 10 minutes early and Sarah is always 10 minutes late. "Are we the first ones here?" Kevin asks, stepping inside. "Of course. As usual." And of course, Sarah and Kyle came about 20 minutes later. By this time everyone was outside waiting. I answered the door "How nice of you to join us," I say sarcastically. Sarah punched my arm. "Shut up. We're not that late." I grabbed my arm "Ow. That hurt." She just smiled and rolled her eyes. Dylan and Tyler run out into our backyard where we have a picnic table set up. It's been about a month since our last get together. I haven't had a lot of time to get to know about everyone else since I've been working really hard on this promotion. I've been getting home really late, most of the time Alyssa is already asleep when I get home. And I hardly get to spend any time with her or the kids. Luckily though, she's understood about it all. She hasn't been complaining or nagging me or anything. I walk outside with Kyle and Sarah where Alyssa has everything set up already. She claps her hands together. "I think we're ready." She turns around. "Kids! The foods ready!" As usual, a herd of kids come running around the picnic table. I help Rylee fix her plate and Alyssa helps Cayden and Crystal fix their plates and when all the kids are settled, us adults sit down and fix our own plates and talk… which is the whole point of why we do this. I'm sitting next to Kevin. I lean over. "So, how are things going with your life?" I take a bit of macaroni. Kevin shrugs. "Pretty good, I guess. You know the same ol', same ol'. Audrey is starting to get attached to a little boy she's having sessions with." "What about you?" he asks me. I shrug. "Pretty good, I guess. I haven't been home much. You're lucky I made it here. Work is pretty stressful and I can't wait until my boss decides who gets that promotion." "Yeah. I know what you mean. But work has been a drag lately." Kevin sighs. I can tell something's bothering him, but I decide not to pressure him about anything. After we all got caught up and everyone left, it was pretty late so Alyssa and I put the kids to bed. After they were all tucked in their beds, I lay down in bed and closed my eyes trying to catch up on my sleep but Alyssa lay down next to me and told me that Cayden's class was going to have career day and that I should go in for it. I was half asleep at this point. "Jake? Are you even listening to me?" I opened one eye. "Huh? Oh yea. Sure. Whatever." The next thing I know, I'm asleep.

!KEVIN'S POV!

As usual, we were early. You can thank Audrey for that; I was never early for anything before I married her. Now it's a habit, but I guess it's better than being late for everything. When we got there, Jake let us in and we out to the back (luckily all of us have big backyards), and sat away from the pool, we didn't want any kids or any of the food to fall in. Audrey immediately gravitated toward Alyssa and the two gossiped or whatever they did. Audrey is already starting to show. Sarah and Kyle arrived and Alyssa had dinner out in no time. I mostly hung out with Jake, catching up on everything. It sounds like he's working really hard on a promotion at work. It sounds like he's never at home. I can't imagine never being at home, I feel sorry for the guy. Luckily, I'm home quite a bit and my job doesn't require me to work on the weekends. Audrey and I get home late with Eve already asleep. I walk into our room after taking a shower. Audrey is sitting in the arm chair we have in there. She never sits in that chair. "What's going on?" "I have something we need to talk about," Audrey says seriously. "Ok..." I sit on the bed. "You know Christian? One of my patients." "Yeah." "Well, I want to adopt him." I was stunned. "Are you sure?" I asked still unsure of what to think. "Absolutely. He needs a real mother and father who can love him. Wouldn't it be great to know we could provide that for him?" I looked down. She completely caught me off guard. "Audrey, you're already having one... aren't two enough?" She furrows her eyebrows. "Why are you being so selfish? I can't believe you. We have the chance to give this little boy a home and a family and all you can think is 'you're already having one...'" She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms. Sometimes she can act like a child. "Well, I just think that it's kind of stupid to adopt with an infant on the way, I mean come on, you're going to be trying to raise a baby AND getting used to having a troubled kid around the house?" she glared at me. "Stupid? How could providing a home for a needy child possibly be stupid?" "I'm just saying—" she cut me off "No. Kevin. You're stupid." And she got in the bed and turned her back to me.

!SARAH'S POV!

"We're not that late," I say as we enter Jake and Alyssa's house. We were that late. 20 minutes. Jake should expect that from me, though. We went into their backyard where everything was already ready. That's the good thing about being late. You don't have to wait around for anything or anyone. We got to sit down and eat right away. I sat down by Alyssa and Audrey of course and Kyle sat by Jake and Kevin. When I was with Alyssa and Audrey, I didn't feel like a mom, I felt like a teenager again, and I like that. I don't feel quite so old. But all good things come to an end. Kyle and I went home with the two boys almost half asleep. I've been worrying about the cafe' a lot. I realize I am no where prepared to start something like that. And honestly, I have no idea what to do. Kyle took me to look for potential places and we found a few close by that would be pretty good but I barely had any time to do anything else to prepare because I was too busy with the boys. Then, the phone rang and the caller I.D. said "Out of Area" I answered it anyway. "Hello?" No answer. I just shrugged and hung up. They must have had the wrong number. "Who was that?" I shrug. "They hung up." The phone rings again. I heave a huge sigh and pick it up quickly. "Hello?" "Sarah?" "Yeah, who's this?" They hang up again. I slam the phone down. I was starting to get creeped out. If they knew me, which obviously they did considering they knew my name, why did they hang up? I just shrugged it off. Maybe they had bad service or something.

!AUDREY'S POV!

"No Kevin. You're stupid." was the last thing I said before going to bed angry. I was really mad about this. I can't believe how selfish Kevin is being. The next morning I woke up. I didn't bother waking Kevin up. Let him be late for work. I get Eve up and feed her breakfast, get her dressed, and before we went out the door, I went into our room where Kevin was still soundly asleep. I shove him. "You're going to be late," is all I say before leaving the house. I drop Eve off at daycare and I was on my way to work where Christian would be waiting for me. He'd been opening up a lot about everything that had happened to him and the sessions seemed to be really helping him. All of this made me want to be his mother more. I was scared this was going to happen to every patient I had. I'd want to... keep them. After work, I picked Eve up and came home. When I got home, Kevin was sitting on the couch, watching TV. "What are you doing?" I ask. He looks at me. "I had the day off, don't you remember?"

!ALYSSA'S POV!

After everyone left our house, Jake and I put the kids in bed and got into bed ourselves. I was trying to talk to him but I got the feeling he wasn't even listening to me. I finally gave up and turned the lights out, but I couldn't sleep. Ever since Jake has been working for that promotion, he hasn't been home at all. And when he is home, he's sleeping or on the verge of it. The most time he's spent with the kids is when he fell asleep on the couch the other night and Cayden fell asleep on one side of him and rylee on the other. I try my best not to make too big a deal out of it because I know he's working hard and I know that he really wants this promotion and everything but I miss the way things used to be. When he would come home at like 430 or 5 every night and actually stay awake long enough to carry on a conversation. I really badly wanted to tell him just to take a day off or something but I know if I did, it would just cause an argument and that's the last thing we need. I decided to leave it alone for tonight. Since Jake absolutely cannot wake up with an alarm clock, I have to wake up every morning just to wake him up. It was 5. Why on earth would he need to get up at 5? I got up turned on the lamp, and shook him "Jake. Wake up. It's 5." After about 10 minutes I finally got him up and I went back to sleep until 630, when I had to get up to get the kids ready for school and all that jazz. That night, I put the kids to bed and decided I would try to wait up for Jake for once. I lay on the couch and watched TV and was barely awake when he came home at 11. After we got ready for bed I turned to him. "Before you go to sleep, I need to talk to you." "Okay. Shoot." "Well, I was just thinking that you've been working really hard lately and I'm not telling you to stop, but I think you should at least take some time off to go to Cayden's career day thingy and to go out to dinner for our anniversary." "Don't worry, I already talked to my boss and he's cool with letting me take time off for both." "Good." I cannot wait until this promotion is given.

!KYLE'S POV!

I can already feel the drama stirring in our families. I observed and listened to everyone's conversations at the get together. There's definitely some drama on the horizon. Sarah and I? We're doing perfectly fine as far as I know. But I have a feeling Kevin and Audrey are going to start disagreeing on the whole adopting thing and Jake and Alyssa are going to start arguing about him never being there. I'm glad Sarah and I aren't going through anything like that. The biggest thing on our shoulders is Sarah's whole cafe thing and that's not a big deal because we're in no rush. We have been receiving weird phone calls lately, though. Someone will call, we'll answer, and then we'll hang up. I think they're just the telemarketer people, but we've never gotten this many. Oh well.


	4. Chapter 4

!JAKE'S POV!

"Hey Sarah," I say, placing Crystal on the floor, as she immediately runs off. Alyssa walks past me with one of the twins on either side of her. The twins run off and she starts toward the kitchen. "What's wrong with her?" Sarah asks. "Actually, I have no clue." I told her. I really didn't. She has just been acting really weird lately. And I've been working way too hard to talk to her about it. I'm sure she'll get over it soon. "...Why don't you ask her?" Sarah asks. "You can't just avoid it. That'll do no good." I shrug. "I don't want to start anything." "You're starting something by not saying anything." I looked at her. "Obviously, you don't know her as well as I do." Sarah just gave me a look and walked away. When the dinner was ready and we all sat down, she pretty much ignored me, she only said a few words to me. She really needs to lighten up. When Alyssa was standing on the back stairs, watching the kids play, I walked over and stood next to her. "Hey, what's wrong?" I ask. "I don't want to talk about it here, Jake." "Well you have to talk to me about it sometime." "I said not here, Jake," she snapped at me. "Ok, ok. Geez, relax," I said backing away. I really don't think that helped much though. She just glared at me. Hard. Oh well, if she didn't want to tell me what was wrong then I shouldn't feel bad about this.

!SARAH'S POV!

Everyone was over at our house for our monthly get together but it wasn't as fun as it normally is. Everybody is fighting. Jake and Alyssa were pretty much ignoring each other and I saw Audrey glare at Kevin a few times. It made me feel better about my relationship with Kyle, though. The phone rang again during the get together, though. I answer it. "Hello?" There's no answer. "Hello?" I say again. Finally, there's a response on the other end. "Um..." The phone clicked off. That's like the 10th time that's happened this month. What is going on? At first, I didn't really think anything of it but now it's freaking me out more and more. I bring out the macaroni and cheese. As I sit the dish on the table, I lean over and whisper in Kyle's ear, "They called again..." His eyes got big for a second, but then his face went back to calm. "We'll worry about it later." After everyone left, the phone rang again and once again, there was no answer. "Hello? Is anyone there?" there was a long pause. "STOP CALLING HERE!" I practically screamed into the receiver as I hung up. Right after I hung up, the phone rang again "I TOLD YOU TO STOP CALLING HERE!" I yelled again as soon as I picked up the phone. "Sarah?" It was Alyssa. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, Alyssa." She laughs. "It's ok." "What's up?" "Not a lot. What was that all about?" "...It's a long story."

!KEVIN'S POV!

Our monthly get together was at Sarah and Kyle's house this time. I felt a bad feeling in the atmosphere, though. Audrey had been avoiding any sort of conversation with me the past couple of weeks. It's almost as if we're in college or middle school again. When I can get close enough, I grab on to Audrey's wrist and pull her close to me to whisper into her ear. "Stop acting childish, Audrey. Especially in public." She jerked away. "I'm not the one acting childish." She said in a low, harsh voice as she walked away. I just sighed and hoped nobody saw that. Dinner was quiet. Sarah and Kyle were the only ones who actually tried to start a conversation. Everybody else just sat there. At home, there was still silence. Even with Eve around, there wasn't as much spirit in the air. It's strange how good Audrey is at avoiding doing anything with me. It was almost as if I were a wall. Finally, one night at dinner, I attempted to start a conversation. "Audrey, can we please talk about this?" She ignored me. I stood up. "Can I speak to you in the kitchen for a moment?" I asked in the nicest voice possible, not wanting to start anything in front of Eve. Without a word, she stood up and started toward the kitchen. "Listen Audrey, we need to talk about this. You're not setting a very good example for our daughter." "I'm going to adopt that boy. I don't care what you say, Kevin," Audrey says calmly, not responding to my question. I feel like arguing this question, but see that Audrey is set on this. "Ok," I say. Audrey looks startled. "Ok? That's all you're going to say?" "Well, if it's that important to you..." She looked at me in disbelief "It is that important to me." "Well...ok then. Can we go back and have a nice, calm dinner now?" She nodded, with the same look of disbelief on her face.

!ALYSSA'S POV!

I had been pretty much ignoring Jake all month but he didn't seem to really care. It seemed that he chose all the wrong times to try to talk to me about it too. Tonight was one example of that. We were all sitting there mostly silent, and eating when he leaned over and whispered "We really need to talk about this." I just whispered back "Not right now." When we got back home I said "Geez, you always pick the worst times to talk" Defending himself he said "Well, at least I'm trying to talk about you. You just ignore me every time I try to bring it up." "Well, that's because every time you bring it up, we're out in public and this is something we need to discuss in private, not in front of our friends." "But that's the only time I ever have to talk about it!" "That's the whole point! You're ever home. You leave before we even wake up and get back when we're all asleep! When you are home, all you do is sleep! You don't spend any time with anyone anymore but your co workers!" And with that, I went to bed. The next day was Cayden's career day that Jake was supposed to go to. When he got up I asked him if he was going and he said "Yeah. I'll be there." But of course at around 11, I got a phone call from Jake. "Hey. I can't make it to Cayden's. The boss needs to me to help him." I couldn't believe it. "Jake! You can't do this to him! You promised him!" But he had already hung up. Jake wasn't coming and guess who had to break the news to poor Cayden.

!AUDREY'S POV!

It was hard avoiding Kevin. I just wanted to stop him and yell at him and tell him why I wanted to adopt this poor boy. Finally, when I let Kevin confront me about it, he gave in. He understood that this was important to me. The next day at work, Christian came in. We talked about the usual stuff. Finally, we got to the subject of his mom once more. "Hey Christian, what would you think if I were your mommy?" Christian looks at me bewildered. "But you're not my mommy." "What if I were?" He thinks about my question for a second. "I think it would be fun!" I laugh. "It would be fun," I say. Later that night, I was working on some paper work when Alyssa called. She clearly sounded upset. "Hey Alyssa. What's wrong?" She didn't spend any time beating around the bush. "It's Jake. He's at work all the time. I mean, I never see him anymore. I've gone a few days without seeing him. He's even broken promises with the kids. I don't know what to do." She sounds likes she's on the verge of tears. I let her keep talking. "And I was thinking, since you're a psychologist and all, maybe you could help Jake and me." "I'm a children's psychologist, though," I say, taken aback by her offer. "More of a psychologist than me and Jake, though." I laugh. I look at my schedule. "All right, I seem to have a slot open tomorrow at 12:00. Why don't the two of you come in and see me tomorrow?" "I'll be there. I'll just have to pull Jake from work." "I'm sure he'll be there." She sighs. "I hope." The next day, I watched Christian leave with the social worker, who brought him to and from his sessions. He was growing more and more each and every day. I see Alyssa pull up in her van after Christian and the social worker leave the parking lot. Alyssa comes through the door and I give her a hug. "Hey Alyssa! Where's Jake?" She sighs. "He said he'll be here."

!KYLE'S POV!

The get together was not as fun as they normally. No one talked the whole night. Sarah and I kept trying to start conversations but no one really did anything but sit there. Plus, I could tell Sarah was still distressed about the phone calls. I'll get down to the bottom of this somehow. Meanwhile, Sarah was still working hard on her business, although we haven't found a place for it to be yet. One day when we were going to go hunting for that building, we had just loaded the kids up in the van when a red sports car pulls up next to our house. "Do you know anyone with a red sports car?" I asked Sarah. She shook her head. "No. I don't." All of a sudden, Sarah let out a big gasp. I jerked my head around. "What is it? What's going on?" She looked shocked. "Oh...it's nothing...I just thought. Well. Never mind. It couldn't have been."


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry it took so long to update. I tried posting it a few days ago, but it kept saying there was an error. Anyways, enjoy chapter 5.

!JAKE'S POV!

"Jake! Get out of the kitchen!" Sarah screeches at me. "Gee, Sarah." I put the lid back on the pot that I was inspecting. It's Alyssa and I's anniversary and everyone is coming over. And I mean everybody. Audrey's and Alyssa's mom had the kids for the day while the three girls prepared everything all day. Why does everything have to be so uptight in this family? Shouldn't we relax sometime or another. The doorbell rings. "Ugh! Who's that?" Alyssa asks. "No one is supposed to be here yet!" "Calm down, Alyssa," I call from the foyer. I walk to the door and swing it open only to see Alyssa and Audrey's mother, along with a hyper Cayden, Rylee, Crystal, and Eve. "Hi Jake!" their mother says, giving me a kiss on the cheek. "Something smells good!" She walks right into the kitchen, the place I was not welcome. Of course since the girls do not trust me to do anything that has to do with this party, I am the babysitter. While everyone else is getting everything completely ready for the party, the only thing I'm allowed to do is take all the kids upstairs and entertain them somehow which is a lot harder than it sounds. I was also blessed with the job of getting our guest rooms ready. Since my entire family is coming down this weekend, some of my siblings and their families are going to have to stay with Alyssa and me because there's not enough room at my parent's house anymore. Some people are even staying at Audrey and Kevin's and Sarah and Kyle's. I told you everyone was coming. "No! Cayden! Don't jump on the beds right now! They have to look nice for when the people come over!" I yell. I pick Cayden and see Eve with a cup of grape juice. How does this girl always end up with grape juice? "Eve! Put that down! Not on your white dress!" I take the cup from her hand, still holding Cayden. Eve start to cry. "No no no. I didn't mean to make you--" I sigh and put the cup down and pick Eve up. Just then Alyssa comes stomping upstairs. "Jake, do you think you could keep the kids from crying for like 5 minutes? Geez." She snaps as she takes Eve. "Look, I have 4 kids to look after and keep quiet I don't need you yelling at me too." She heaves a frustrated sigh. "Look. I know we've been fighting a lot lately but can we please just act like everything's ok while we have everyone over?" "Geez Alyssa. Who's the one fighting?" Alyssa opens her mouth to give an answer when someone comes running up the stairs. "Is that my Evie I hear crying?" Kevin's voice asks. He comes into the room and takes the crying Eve from Alyssa. She's immediately silenced. "Hey guys. I hope you don't mind. I just let myself in," Kevin says. Alyssa shrugs. "I've got stuff to do," she says and walks back downstairs. "Stressful day?" Kevin asks. "Stressful month," I reply. "Man, am I glad you're here. I can't handle four at once." "No problem." Rylee starts to open the closet door. "Yo, Rylee! Keep your hands off that door," Kevin says in a teasing tone. Rylee giggles and runs out of the room. Kevin turns to me "So? You've had a stressful month?" I sigh as I pick up Crystal before she knocked down the picture frame sitting on top of the fireplace. "Have I ever? Man I go to work all day, work my butt off, come home and all Alyssa wants to do is pick fights. In fact, that's all she ever does. She will go out of her way to find something to argue with me about." Crystal squirms "Daddy. I have to go potty." "Can you hold it?" I roll my eyes at the idiocrocy of my question. I take Crystal to the bathroom and return to the guest room. "So, what is Alyssa fighting about?" "Oh, you know. I work too much and I never make time for the family. Stuff like that." I put Crystal down. "Do you?" "Do I what?" "Work too much. Maybe it's true." "What the heck, Kevin? You're supposed to be on my side." "I'm on the kids' side here." I sigh and I'm thankful that the doorbell rings that second.

!SARAH'S POV!

The doorbell rings. "I'll get it," I say. I wipe my hands off and walk into the foyer. I'm not used to wearing high heels and I stumble into the room. I open the door to see my mom and dad, as well as Kyle and Nigel, who are both about a foot taller than I am now. "Hey mom! Hey dad! Kyle and Nigel," I say. We all exchange hugs. "Wow honey. Don't you look nice?" My mom says as she gives me a hug. "Thanks." Nigel and Kyle, who are about 17, now come in and of course immediately ask where the food is and I point them in the right direction. "Where's your brother?" My mom asks. I shrug. "Probably upstairs. We left him with babysitting duty," I say. "Oh. I taught you well, honey," My mom goes into the living room, followed by my dad. I don't even get the door closed before Tyler and Dylan run into the house. Kyle comes running in after them. "I think we need a leash for them," he says, kissing me on the cheek. "You're probably right," I say. "Where are the guys?" "Upstairs." I point up. Kyle runs up the stairs. I close the door and start to go back into the kitchen, but the doorbell rings again. "Geez," I say to myself. I stumble into the foyer again and open the door. It's Charlie, his wife, Maureen, and their two children. "Hey" I say giving them both a hug as the kids run upstairs. "What's going on?" Charlie asks. I sigh. "Just getting ready for this party all day. Jake, Kevin, and Kyle are upstairs if you want to go hang with them and Nigel and Kyle are over by the food." He nods and heads upstairs. Maureen joins Alyssa, Audrey, and I in the kitchen. Jacob comes down into the kitchen moments later. "Hey mom," he says, hugging mom. "Hey Mo," he says to Maureen. "It's nice of you to join us," mom says. Alyssa glances at him. "Yeah," Jake says. "What's wrong with you I ask?" "My dad skills," he says. "Well, maybe if you were ever around, you'd have some," Alyssa says under her breath. "Hey Jake! There's a game on!" Charlie yells from the other room. "All right. I'm coming!" Jake calls back. Jake goes into the living room with the rest of the guys and I look over at Alyssa who is opening and slamming drawers. "What are you looking for?" I ask her. "The ice cream scooper." I pick it off the counter. "It's right here." She heaves a frustrated sigh and takes it out of my hand. "Are you ok, Alyssa?" Without even looking up she replies "No. I'm not." "It's your anniversary, Alyssa. Be happy." She looks at me and for a moment, I think she's going to slap me. She looks away. "I don't want to talk about it," she says. She walks out of the room and up the stairs. I can hear her slam the door. I glance at my mom, Audrey, and her mom. All three of us know better than to mess with Alyssa right now. I sighed. Why do guys have to be such jerks sometimes? Just then the doorbell rang again. I answer it. It's Lorraine and her new boyfriend, Lucas. I think the only ones who have met him are mom and dad. Today was not the best day for him to be introduced to the family but what can you do?

!AUDREY'S POV!

I follow Sarah into the foyer as she lets Lorraine and her boyfriend, Lucas, through the door. "Hey Lorraine !" I say. I give her a hug after Sarah does. Lorraine introduces us to Lucas. He seems nice enough. Lorraine has fulfilled her dreams of becoming a fashion designer, so I guess Lucas is probably in the fashion industry as well. We show them the living room and I volunteer to take door duty as people start coming in now. Sarah says that she'll go upstairs to see if she can talk to Alyssa. The doorbell rings again. I can hear voice outside the door before I can ever get to it. I open the door to see Nora, Bud, and five children. "Hi Nora! Hey Bud!" The children file in one by one and stand in a little group. I look at all five of their faces and try to remember their names, but fail. Nora is pregnant again. How does she do it? "The kids are upstairs if you want to go play," I tell the kids. They scatter off around me. "They're so cute," I tell Nora and Bud. I can hear lots of stomping upstairs now. I bet there are 13 kids running around up there. I hope Alyssa hid all the breakable stuff. "You're welcome to go into the living room." Nora heads for the kitchen and Bud goes into the living room. I'm about to close the door when I see two little girls running up the sidewalk. "Hey Sophia! Hey Morgan!" It's Kevin's sister, Ava, her husband, Brandon, and their two girls. I give Sophia and Morgan hugs before they run upstairs. Ava comes in hurriedly behind them, with Brandon close behind. "Hey Ava! We have a house full of kids." "I bet!" She says. She's one of those people that always seems like she's in a hurry, while Brandon is very laidback. "You can... just go wherever you want," I tell them, noticing the kitchen and living room becoming very full. Why did we decide to have all these people in this house?

!ALYSSA'S POV!

I cannot believe how incredible jerky Jake has been acting lately. He's never at home and he expects me to feel sorry for him since he's having trouble getting the kids to listen to him and be still and quiet. He needs a serious reality check. I honestly am not in the mood for an anniversary party, much less my own. I figure I'll try my best to make it through the day without smacking Jake upside the head. My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. I opened it half hoping it was Jake coming to apologize but it wasn't. Sarah walks into the room and sits down. Without even saying a word, I knew what she was there for. She knew I did too; she just sat there not saying a word, just looking at me until I started talking. "Your brother is being a jerk." I say quietly. She makes her way over to where I was sitting and sat down next to me. "I know he is, but this is your anniversary and it's supposed to be a happy occasion." I don't feel happy..." "I know. Just try to make it through the rest of today in a semi-happy mood. When everyone leaves you can fight with him all you want." I sigh. "Yeah. I guess I can do that." She smiles. "Come on. Almost everyone's here. You'll have a lot of people to talk to." I slowly stood back up and walked back downstairs. When we got downstairs, I tried my best to stay away from the living room, where the guys were watching the game and supposedly watching the kids. After a while, everyone had arrived and the game was over. I still tried to stay on the opposite side of the room from where Jake was. I knew if he said one more thing to me, I would explode and probably start beating him up or something. It wasn't too incredibly difficult considering the house was full. I decide to show Lorraine and Lucas, Mark, his wife Jane, and 2 kids Chase and McKenzie, and Mike the rooms where they are staying. After getting them settled I make my way downstairs and mingle with everyone else. While I talked with everyone I couldn't get my mind off the fact that all I wanted to do was crawl in my bed and just lay there without anyone bothering me. I just want to be alone.

!KEVIN'S POV!

"So, what are you up to now Charlie?" I ask, moving the mashed potatoes down the table for the 15th time. "Working on cars, of course," he says. Maureen smiles at him. Charlie really did get a beautiful woman. She had dark hair and dark eyes. She almost had a Spanish look about her. Both of their kids, Autumn and Jeremy, had dark hair. "What about you?" Charlie asks me. "I'm teaching." "A teacher? Really?" "Yeah. You didn't know that?" "Guess not. There are so many people in this family; it's hard to keep track of who does what." "Yeah. That's true." I look over and see Jake staring at his plate, tapping his fork angrily. He was clearly out of it. I lean over. "What's wrong with you?" "Alyssa." I sighed. "What did she do?" He looked up at me like I was the stupidest person alive. "Are you kidding?" "Look, have you ever thought that there might be some truth in what she's saying?" Jake's eyes get huge. "Whose side are you on?" "No one's! I'm just saying. Maybe that would just resolve all of us." "I'm not backing down." "Ok, dude. But just remember this: women always win." Jake shoots me a look. I look down at Audrey who's sitting a few seats down, chatting with Henry and his girlfriend, Olivia, as well as Lorraine and Lucas. Audrey sees me looking at her and winks. I smile at her and wink back. After everyone finishes eating, dessert is brought out. Jake is still sitting there, moping and I look over at Alyssa to see she isn't much happier. Why won't they just make up already? This is getting ridiculous. All of a sudden I hear the loud screech of tires and a car drive off. I guess everybody else heard it too because they all looked up. An awkward silence falls over the room. Audrey smiles and stands up. "Who wants dessert!?" Everyone's mind is taken of the screeching tires and on to dessert. An hour or so later, all the dessert is gone and everyone is tired. It's hard to believe we're going to do this all again tomorrow. Everyone starts to clean up. Audrey and I get Eve, along with Henry and Olivia, and my sisters Madison and Ava, who were staying at our house. "What was that?" I ask as we enter our room. "I have no idea." The next morning, we head back over to Jake and Alyssa's house. We were the first ones there as usual but after a while everyone showed up. Alyssa and Jake pretty much stayed away from each other. It is really awkward being around Alyssa and Jake because Jake is definitely my best friend and best friends are supposed to back each other up but I think Alyssa has a point. I tried to avoid talking to either one of them about it. I figure if I stay out of their business, neither one of them will end up mad at me. I think everyone else got the same idea I did, though, so Alyssa and Jake were basically ignored the whole night. Whenever one of them looked at me, I would look away. I noticed Audrey doing the same thing. I even feel guilty for feeling better about Audrey and I's relationship compared to Jake and Alyssa's. Usually Alyssa and Jake seem so happy, they rarely fight. But when they do, it's huge. I was in the middle of talking to Mike when I hear a bunch of noise coming from the kitchen. I think I hear Alyssa's voice. I decide to go check it out. "If you were home once in awhile, then maybe the kids would do what you say!" Alyssa says, slamming a pot on the counter. "Well, maybe if you gave me a reason to stay home, then I would! You're always yelling at me these days and I can't stand it!" Jake's fists are clenched up at his side. "You're the reason I'm yelling!" I notice I'm not the only one that has come to watch. I have never seen either one of them this mad. After a long pause, Alyssa speaks again. "That's it. I have had it. I'm out of here." and with that, Alyssa left.

!KYLE'S POV!

I was happy to have my younger brother in town. I wanted him to meet all the friends I had made and this was the perfect opportunity for it. Sure, he had casually met them when Sarah and I got married, but this was truly a time for bonding in my mind. However, the atmosphere in the Baker house was not settling. Even on their anniversary, it seemed that Alyssa and Jake's problems were so great, that they couldn't even put them aside for two or three days. This was something they clearly needed to sort out. Alyssa and Jake had a blowout in the kitchen and I thought they were going to rip each other's heads off. Everyone pretended like they weren't paying attention to what was going on, but I knew everyone was waiting to see what happened. Alyssa ended up just walking out the front door, getting in her car, and leaving. Andrew, my younger brother, came over to me. "Is this how they always act?" I looked at him and he was holding hands with his girlfriend, Gwen. "Fortunately, no. But unfortunately, this is the day of all days the problem blew up." I looked at Jake, who looked as if he could either throw up or cry. I could tell he was debating whether he should run out of the room, or continue on as if nothing happened. I look at Sarah. She doesn't know what to do either. Sarah runs over to Jake. "Don't just stand there. Go after her. It's your anniversary for heaven's sake!" Jake looks at her and still looks like he's going to cry. He doesn't say anything. Sarah shoves him towards the door. "Go." "I don't know where she went. Do you think she will come back?" "Well, if you don't go after her, she might take a hint and not come back." Again, Jake looks as if he's going to throw up. "Are you going to come with me?" he asks, sounding like the little brother he is. "I wish I could Jake, but this is something you've got to do alone." Jake takes a deep breath and pushes out of the room. The door slams and the room is silent. I look at Sarah once again, and she looks as if she's going to cry. Sarah never cries.


	6. Chapter 6

!JAKE'S POV!

I don't know where Alyssa went, but I have to find her. I just have to. After she left, I realized how stupid this fight really is. Maybe she's right. Maybe I should spend more time at home. But right now, I just need to concentrate on finding her. Where could she be? I get in the car and sit. Would she be anywhere I would need to drive? Or would she go somewhere around the neighborhood? She would go somewhere she felt at home. Where would that be other than our home? I think back to 7th grade. Oh, 7th grade. When love first bloomed between the two of us. I think of where she liked to spend her time then. I remember that down by the lake, there was this little place that was surrounded by trees at the edge of the water. No one went there, so we made it our spot. I drive down to our old neighborhood and park in the street. I make my way down towards the water and realize I'm holding my breath. I stop and take a deep breath, preparing myself for the event that she wasn't there. Or worse... I get closer to the lake when I see the silhouette of a woman. I draw closer and I'm relieved to see it is Alyssa. I'm not sure how to approach her. I take another deep breath. Her back is turned towards me and she's sitting on the old picnic table that had been there as long as I can remember. I go over and sit down next to her. She doesn't budge. "Hey." I say in an apologetic tone. She ignores me. "Alyssa. Please talk to me." "Why should I talk to you?" "Because we've been yelling at each other too much. We need to make this right. Alyssa, this is our anniversary. We love each other. We have three children and another one on the way. We can't just end this. It's too good of a thing. I know I haven't done much right lately, but I'm willing to change. I just got so caught up in this promotion. It was important to me. But you and the children are more important to me." She smiles. "Do you really mean that?" "Every word." "What do you say we head back to our party now?" She grabs my hand and we make our way back to my car. Alyssa slips on her seat belt once we get in the car. "Jake, you know it's going to take a lot more than words to fix everything." "I know, baby," I say, placing my hand on her knee. "But it's a start."

!SARAH'S POV!

The house was silent after Jake left. Even the children could sense trouble. I felt like crying, though. Never before had I seen the two in such a bad fight. I also felt embarrassed, but not necessarily for myself. I try to pull myself together to keep the cheerful, family mood going. I was trying desperately to get people's minds off of what had just happen and have them focus on happy things. It was very tiring. After 30 minutes or so, I hear a car pull up. Thankfully it's Jake and Alyssa. They seem in a better mood. They were holding hands and I knew it was a sign that things could move on. It was almost as if there was a collective sigh among the room. My mom comes over to me. "Are you all right, sweetheart?" She places her hands on my shoulders. "Yeah. I'm fine, mom. At least I am now."

!ALYSSA'S POV!

I was sitting at the lake, thinking about everything. I felt a tear run down my cheek. How had everything gotten so messed up? A few months ago, everything seemed so perfect. I came up here because I knew no one ever came over to the part that Jake and I had claimed "our spot" back in 7th grade. But thinking about 7th grade made me want to throw up. Or maybe that was because of the pregnancy. Yeah, that's right. Pregnancy. I just found out a week or so ago and nobody else knew, aside from Jake of course. After a while, I heard someone walk up behind me. I could sense it was Jake so I just kept staring forward at the night sky and the water and let him sit down next to me. Neither of us said anything for a while but a minute later he spoke. "Hey." I didn't even hear him because I was still thinking. After he apologized, I realized how stupid we had both been. I was glad we were ok again. I hate fighting. Back at the party, things were surprisingly good. I could actually talk to everyone without feeling like I needed to go punch the wall. I love being surrounded by family, especially since mine is so big. It was sad when everyone except Mark's family, Lorraine's family, and Mike left. After everyone left, I decided to go outside and get some more fresh air. Jake came out after everyone was in bed and we sat on the porch swing. He put his arm around my shoulder and we just sat there, not needing to say anything. After a while I looked down the street and saw a red car. I guess Jake noticed it too because he asked me "Wasn't that car there when everyone first started coming over?" I nodded. "It's been there all night. It's not in front of a house or anything, just sitting on the side of the street." And then I realized who it was.

!AUDREY'S POV!

"Are you all right Alyssa?" I ask her after the party has gone back to normal. "Yeah. I'm fine." She looks flustered. "Is something still wrong?" She smiles and shakes her head. "I have to tell you something, Audrey. But you can't tell a soul. Not right now anyway." "All right, Alyssa. You know you can trust me." I look at her with concern. "Oh no! It's nothing serious or anything. I mean, it is... but I mean, it's not bad. Well, ok... Audrey." "Spit it out!" "I'm pregnant!" she whispers excitedly. "Oh my gosh Alyssa! That's great!" I hug her. "Shhh! Not a soul," she says. I pretend to zip my lips. "Ok. Not a soul." After the party was over, we took Henry and his girlfriend and Kevin's family to our house. I tuck Eve into bed, who was already half asleep when we got home. I walk into my room, where Kevin was pulling back the comforter. "You're eager to get into bed..." I say, pulling out my earrings. Kevin looks at me and wiggles his eyebrows. I smile. "Christian is coming this week," I say. "I know, Audrey," Kevin says, "I think you've said it about twenty times today." "I know. I'm just so excited. And the one on the way..." I grin now. "Oh, shoot!" "What is it?" "I left one of our plates over at Alyssa's." I start to head out the door. "Is it that important?" "Yes. I need it for tomorrow." "All right. Be careful!" "It's only down the street." I walk a few houses down to find Jake and Alyssa sitting on their porch, peering at something across the street. "Oh my gosh..." Alyssa says. "Hey guys! I just came by to get my plate," I say cheerfully. "What is it, Alyssa?" Jake asks with concern. I turn around to see what they're looking at. I see a nice, red, sports car sitting on the side of the road. "What is it?" I ask, just like Jake had done. "It's... Adam."

!KEVIN'S POV!

I was lying in bed when all of a sudden I hear the phone ring. I look at the caller ID and see it's Jake and Alyssa's house. I answer it. "Hello?" I hear Audrey's voice on the other end. "Kevin. Oh my gosh, you'll never believe it..." "Audrey? Why are you whispering?" "Adam is parked outside and I don't want to walk back over there." "Oh my gosh! You need to get away from him!" "Don't worry. I'm inside Jake and Alyssa's and they're both here. I just don't want to walk by his car to get back home!" "Audrey... I know their house is full, so you can't stay the night. I'm going to come and get you." "But what about Eve?" "It won't take long. I'm coming right now." I slipped out of bed and left the house as silently as I could. I jogged down the street until I got to Alyssa and Jake's house. I see the red car and decide that I'll go check it out before going to get Audrey. At first, I walked casually by the car just to make sure they weren't delusional or something. Sure enough, I see Adam peering out of the window at Sarah's house. I then walk the rest of the way to Jake and Alyssa's, trying not to draw any attention to myself. I get there and get in as quickly as I can. "Oh my gosh! You guys are right! That IS Adam!" "Duh Kevin! I told you!" Audrey replies. "Sorry Alyssa. Sorry Jake. I didn't mean to come over and make myself at home," Audrey says. "It's all right," Alyssa says, hugging Audrey. "You got your plate?" I ask. "Yep." "You two be careful," Jake says. Audrey and I slip out of the house. "Stay on this side of me," I tell Audrey, putting her so she's as far from the car as possible. When we pass, Adam doesn't look at us. He continues to stare at Sarah's house. "What is he doing, Kevin?" Audrey asks. "He's just... staring."

!KYLE'S POV!

Sarah and I slip into bed after finally getting Tyler and Dylan settled into bed. We have Charlie and his family, and my brother in our house. The door bell rings. "Whoa. Who could that be?" Sarah asks. "I don't know. You stay in here." I walk downstairs and peek through the window. It's Audrey and Kevin. I open the door. "Hey guys! What's wrong?" "We just wanted to let you know..." Audrey started. "That Adam is sitting in a red car in front of your house," Kevin finishes. I hear Sarah sleep down the stairs. I look over to see Sarah's face turn white. Her eyes got big and her jaw dropped. "Oh no. Are you sure?" Kevin nodded. "Positive." I grabbed Sarah's shoulder and moved her away from the door. "If he sees you, who knows what he will do?" "We'll leave now," Audrey says, seeming a bit alarmed herself. "You two be careful," Kevin says. "Thanks man." I close the door and make sure the locks are secure. "What about the children?" Sarah asks. "They're going to sleep with us tonight," I say. Sarah nods. On our way upstairs to get the kids Sarah suddenly asks me "What do you think he wants?" I shrugged my shoulders. "I have no idea. We just have to keep a watchful eye out." After we picked up Dylan and Tyler, we headed back downstairs and a thought suddenly occurred to me. "Do you think he had anything to do with those weird phone calls we've been getting?" Her eyes got wide again. "Well, it makes perfect sense." "Oh my God, Sarah. How did we let this happen?" "I'm sorry," she says meekly. "It's not your fault, Sarah." "I know. It just seems like it is..."


	7. Chapter 7

!JAKE'S POV!

"Alyssa! I'm home!" I call out as I enter our house through the front door. Alyssa comes walking out of the kitchen. "Wow. You're home early. It's only noon." she says as she gives me a hug. "I know. I came home early because I need to talk to you. Are you doing anything for lunch?" "I'm meeting Audrey and Sarah for lunch in about an hour. Why?" "Just sit down." We both sat down at our dining room table. "Ok. I have some good news and some bad news." "Ok. Well, shoot." "The good news is that I got the promotion." "Oh wow! You finally got it!? That's great!" Alyssa hugs me. "What's the bad news?" I try to laugh. "Well, the promotion... it, uh... Alyssa... We have to move to Florida ." Alyssa looks at me with a blank stare for a moment, and then she looks around the room. I'm not sure what to do now. "Wow.", she says silently under her breath. "Look, I haven't given my boss a definite answer yet. So, if you're not okay with it, I can just tell him no.", I told her. She thought about it for a moment. "No. Don't do that." She said as she grabbed my hands. "Listen, I know you've worked really hard for this and I know it's important to you. You deserve this." "Wow Alyssa. To be honest, I wasn't really expecting this." I hug her. "I know this will be hard for us and it'll be a big step, but I know it'll be for the best." But in my own head, I don't' know if I believe this. I really was expecting Alyssa to stop me from letting us make this move. She looked up at me. "Just, don't tell anyone about this yet. I think we should probably do it together." I nodded. "Yeah. You're probably right." I hug her again. "Thanks for being so understanding." "You're welcome. But I have to go. I'm leaving Crystal with you. I'll see you later." I give her a quick kiss goodbye. "Okay. Bye, babe."

!KEVIN'S POV!

The morning after the whole Adam ordeal, we woke up early to see everyone off. It was nice to actually have the house all to ourselves today -- Audrey took off work and I didn't have to go to school on account that it was Saturday. Eve is still asleep. I walk into the kitchen where Audrey is making coffee. "Wasn't it weird about that Adam thing last night?" Audrey asks. "Yeah. That's really creepy. I swear, if he tries anything, I'll kill him." I look out the window just to make sure he hadn't come back after he finally left last night. I didn't see his car so I figured it was safe. Later in the afternoon, the phone rang. "Hello?" It was Alyssa. "Hey Kevin, do you think you and Audrey can come over tonight? Jake and have some kind of big news." "Oh yeah. Sure. Is everything all right?" "Mm-hm. Everything is fine." I don't believe her. "All right. See you tonight." "Who was that?" Audrey asks when I hang up. "Alyssa. She wants us to come over tonight." "Is everything all right?" "So she says..." The rest of the day was Adam free thankfully and around 6, we all headed over to the Baker's house along with Sarah and Kyle. When we were all seated and Alyssa put dinner on the table Audrey asks "Ok, Alyssa. What's going on?" Alyssa and Jake exchange glances. "We need someone to watch Rylee, Cayden, and Crystal this weekend while Jake and I go to Florida ." Sarah speaks up "We can. Why?" This time, Jake talks. "We're going to look at houses." I see Audrey look up abruptly. "Houses?" she asks. "Are you buying a beach house?" Audrey looks directly at Alyssa, but Alyssa avoids eye contact. "No," Jake says quietly. "Wait. What's going on?" Kyle asks. Alyssa looks up from her plate. "We're moving..."

!ALYSSA'S POV!

After everybody left our house, I sat down on the couch and started at the blank TV just thinking. Jake had taken the kids out for ice cream. I heard them come in the house a few minutes later but I couldn't break my daze. "Rylee and Cayden you two need to go take a bath and then get in bed." he said as carried a sleeping Crystal upstairs. A bit later he came downstairs and sat down next to me on the couch. I was still thinking about moving. He looked at me, then at the blank TV, then again at me. "You know that's not on right?" he asked me in a teasing tone. I just looked at him and crawled into his lap. "Are you ok?" "I'll be fine. It will just take me a while to get used to the idea." "Yeah, I know honey. It's for the best though." I nodded. Just then the phone rang. Jake answered it. He got a worried look on his face and hung up. "What's wrong?" I ask. "That was Sarah. She saw Adam snooping around the outside of their house." I stood up. "Are you kidding?" Jake gets up and heads for the door. "Where are you going?" "I'm going over there." "Then I'm coming too." He turns around. "No. You're staying here. Don't open the door for anyone but me. Do you understand?" "Jake, I'm not 10" "Alyssa, this guy is a rapist. He's not getting anywhere near you." And with that, he left the house.

!SARAH'S POV!

I look out the window. I see something rummage through the bushes, then a tall male stand up with a red shirt on. Oh no. "Kyle!" I whisper, loud enough for Kyle to hear. "What is it?" he asks. "Shh! Look out the window." Kyle looks through the curtain I've pulled back. "Oh, crap," Kyle says, seeing Adam. "What are we going to do?", I ask Kyle. He thinks for a moment. "I'm not sure...", His voice trails off. I rush over to the kitchen and pick up the phone. "What are you doing?", Kyle asks me. "I'm calling Jake." Luckily, Jake answered and i was able to tell him what was going on. "Don't worry, Sarah. I'll be over as soon as I can.". "Just..don't let him see you." "I don't care if he sees me. I'm sick of this guy," Jake says. "No. Jake --." But he has already hung up. "What did he say?" Kyle asks. I sigh. "I think he's about to do something rash. Watch the window." Kyle goes over to the window. I walk upstairs where Tyler and Dylan are. They're in their playroom. "Hey boys," I say. "Yeah?" they call in unison. "I need you to stay in there, ok? Do not come downstairs." "Sarah, he's coming across the street." I join Kyle at the window. Jake approaches the house but instead of heading for the front door, he heads toward the bushes. "What is he doing? I told him not to do anything rash!" Kyle rushes out the front door but it's too late, Jake and Adam are already standing face to face. I rush outside too when I see that Alyssa, too has come running across the street yelling, "Jake! Stop it and come home!" "Man, what do you think you're doing sneaking around their house?" Jake says to Adam, not backing away. Kyle runs down the stairs. "Jake, man. Really, don't get involved in this." "I am going to get involved in this because this guy could be putting my own family in danger too." Adam looks at him, not flinching. This is between Sarah and I. So maybe you should just butt out." Jake glared at him. "Sarah is my sister. I have every right to protect her." Adam stands up straighter. "You don't want to mess with me, dude." Jake stands up straighter too. "Oh, i really think I do." Just when it looks like Jake is about to punch Adam, Alyssa speaks up. "Jacob Baker. You stop this and come home. You are not going to get yourself hurt." Adam laughs. "I see who wears the pants in this relationship." Jake's eyes shine, he pulls back his fist and punches Adam in the mouth. Alyssa screams, I yell "Jake!" and Kyle runs even closer to pull Jake back. Adam stumbles backward, his hand over his jaw. After Adam recovers and Jake calms down a bit, Adam speaks. "Look. I didn't come to hurt anyone." He looks directly at Jake and Jake glares right back. "I just came to...settle some unfinished business." Kyle steps in front of me, as if to protect me. "What are you talking about?", he asks. "I want to see my

child."

!AUDREY'S POV!

"You're moving!?" I say after Jake tells us the news. "Well, yeah..." "Jake! You have to be the most selfish person I know!" "...What?" "Audrey, please don't do this," Alyssa says softly. "You are hardly ever at home and Alyssa is left taking care of these children all by herself while you're off at work. Now you're going to move your wife and children from the people they love?! Why can't you just let Alyssa be happy for once and care a little bit more about your family than your job." I hadn't realized that I had stood up while lecturing Jake. The room is silent and everyone stares at me. "Audrey, sit down," Kevin whispers. "No! I don't want Jake taking my twin thousands of miles away." "Audrey, there isn't anything I can do," Jake says. "That's a lie! You're only going because Alyssa could never crush your dreams and tell you what she really thinks or feels." "Maybe you should leave," Alyssa says, still speaking softly. I turn around and walk out the door, hearing Kevin leaving behind me. Later that afternoon, I sit in the kitchen, staring at the wall and thinking. "Audrey, are you ok? Do you want anything to eat?" Kevin asks. "No." "...Ok." I hear Eve playing in the other room. "What about the kids?" I ask. "The kids and Eve were best friends." Kevin doesn't say anything for a moment. "I know. We'll still them at holidays and stuff." "Oh, great. Three times a year?" "Gee, Audrey. Couldn't you just be happy for them?" "I thought you were on my side." "I'm not on anyone's side."

!KYLE'S POV!

When I first saw Adam snooping around the outside of the house, i had the urge to beat him up. Of course, being the kind of person I am, I would never do it. Jake on the other hand, obviously couldn't contain himself. When I saw him punch Adam in the mouth I didn't know whether to hold him back or letting him finish the jerk off. After getting everyone to calm down and getting Jake and Alyssa back home safe, we sat down on the porch with Adam to talk about Dylan. "Why do you want to see him after so many years? Why do you care now?" Sarah asks timidly, not looking Adam in the eye. "Listen, I know what you won't believe it, but I've changed. I know after that thing with your brother, it doesn't look like it, but -- I just want to see my son. I think about it everyday." I look at Sarah to see what she says next. She doesn't look like she knows either. She looks back at me skeptically. Adam speaks up "Look, I'm not going to pull anything. I just want to see him. I swear." "What do you think, Kyle?" "I don't know, man. You weren't there for the whole thing. You don't understand what we had to go through. You made our lives so much harder then. We were still kids! Freshmen in college. It's strange for you to just come back out of the blue. Do you understand our hesitation?" "Believe me. I do. I've been through some tough stuff lately. Stuff that has made me realize the value of my life. I don't want to go just imagining what my son was like. It's important to me." "We'll let you see him on one condition", Sarah told him firmly. He nods. "After this, you'll leave us alone." He nods. I stand up and walk up to the playroom, and bring Dylan with me back outside. "Hey Dylan," Adam says.


	8. Chapter 8

!JAKES POV!

Everybody had taken the news rather...badly. Audrey got really mad at me. Just me though, not Alyssa. I do feel bad about all this happening but there's not much i can do to change it. Later the same night, i kind of lost control and punched Adam in the face. He deserved it though. Unfortunately, I have a bruise on my hand from it. It seems like things are all kind of spiraling out of control. And now that the time for us to move was growing near, I was getting more nervous about it. Nothing has reassured me about the time we will spend in Florida. Will Alyssa be happy or make friends? Will the kids be able to adjust? Will our friends here forgive us? There's just so many things that I'm unsure of. I figure that Alyssa will have no trouble making friends, she makes them wherever she goes. And I'm pretty sure the kids will able to adjust. They're so young that they , too can make friends anywhere. But what if that doesn't happen? I could never forgive myself. I'm not worried about myself too much. It's everyone else. I wonder if it would be easier to just not take the job and earn less money than to move halfway across the country. Whatever it is, I just need some answers or at least peace within myself. I need something to occupy my mind. I guess I haven't been sure about this job from the start. That's probably why I was expecting, even hoping you might say, that Alyssa would just say no to this whole thing. i decide to talk to her a little more. I walk into the living room and see her sitting on the couch watching TV. I sit down next to her. "Hey.", I say. She looks at me and smiles. "Hey, honey." "Look, are you sure about this move? I just don't want to take you somewhere you're not going to be happy." She rubs my back. "Don't worry. I trust you. I bet the whole thing will be just fine." I half smile. "Because if you say no, we'll just stay here where we know we can be happy." She gives me a confused look. "You know, it's starting to sound to me like you don't want to move." "No! Well, I mean, of course I don't want to move. But I want this job..." I can tell that I'm not making much sense. Alyssa still looks at me confused. "What are you trying to say?" she asks. I sigh. "I don't know." "Look, Jake. If you decide you want to stay here, that's fine. Sure, getting more money would be good but it's not crucial. If you decide you want to move to Florida, that's okay too. Like I said before, I trust you." I sigh. She's never put this much pressure on me before.

!AUDREYS POV!

"Hey, Kevin?" "Yeah?" Kevin walks into the kitchen. "Can you help me fill out these adoption papers?" "Help you?" "Yeah. Is that ok?" "Why do you need help?" "Well, I have to fill out stuff about both of our history. We haven't actually been approved yet." "Are you serious? Where is Christian staying all this time?" "A foster home. That's why I want to get this filled out as soon as I can. I really want him to just have a stable life. It's so hard for him to move around from one family to one family. Especially at his age!" "Yeah, all right. What do you need to know?" Kevin and I go through the papers, carefully filling everything out and giving them the best vision of us that we can. It really helps me keep my mind off Alyssa and Jake moving. Now that my twin is moving... it'll be nice to have another child around the house to watch and occupy my mind. "Ok. Now we just need to mail these off and then they'll come by and check out the house and our living environment," I say. Kevin walks around the table and kisses my forehead. "You're so smart." "Yeah, I know." I smile. I look down at the table and sigh, my mind immediately going back to Alyssa. "You want to go to a movie or something tonight? I'm sure Alyssa or Sarah will watch Eve for us." "Yeah. We can ask Sarah. I'm sure Alyssa doesn't have time... with the packing and all." "Audrey..." "I'll call Sarah." Sarah agreed and we walked down the street with Eve a little bit before we had to go. I see Adam sitting on the porch, along with Dylan. "Uh oh..." Kevin says, picking up Eve. "What do you think they're doing?" I ask. I walk up the Darling's sidewalk. "Hey Adam," I say cautiously. "How are you?" "I'm good. How about you?" he asks, sounding completely friendly. "I'm fine." I see Sarah sitting in the rocking chair on the porch. I look at her and she shrugs. I take Eve from Kevin and walk over Sarah while Kevin immenced into small talk. "What's going on?" I ask. "All he wanted was to see Dylan. "That's it?" "Yep. He's been completely harmless so far." "Wow. So, you think Eve will be fine?" "Yes. She'll be perfectly fine. It'll me nice to have another girl around the house." Sarah holds her arms out and I hand Eve over to Sarah. "That's pretty crazy," I said. "Yeah, I know."

!SARAHS POV!

I've been having a lot of mixed feelings lately. At first, Adam was really stressing me out. I was scared he was going to do something to harm my family. Then I felt relieved that his intentions were good. Now, I am feeling kind of depressed that Jake and Alyssa are moving. I've spent practically my whole life with them. What is going to be like when i can't just walk across the street and talk to them whenever I want? Once we figured out that Adam was relatively harmless, Kyle and I would take turns sitting out on the porch while one of us would get stuff done inside. It seemed that Dylan took to him right away. It's weird. I didn't want to have anything to do with Adam, but here he is being a... great father to my child... his child. Whatever. It almost scared me. When Kyle and I planned out what we were going to do when Dylan was born, Adam was not going to be a part of raising him. I just don't want Kyle to feel like any less of his father now that Adam is here. Adam might biologically be the father, but Kyle's the one who has taken care of him for 6 years. I hope he realizes that. It also makes me have a feeling of happiness inside. Dylan will now get to know his real father. We've been telling him all along that Kyle wasn't his biological father, but that he was his true father, the one that has loved him and cared for him. And even at that young age, I think Dylan understands this. Now, I hope Tyler doesn't feel left out of everything. I'm glad when Audrey calls and asks if I can watch Eve for the night. Hopefully babysitting will take my mind off everything that's going on right now. However, when Jake shows up a little later that night with his kids, I feel like I'm about to lose it right then and there. "Hey Sarah. Alyssa and I have to catch an early flight out of here. So i figured it would be okay if the kids just spent the night" "Sure! Come on in, guys." They all come in and Jake sits on the couch next to me. I start asking him questions about the job and the move and stuff but he doesn't sound too excited. "Are you okay, Jake? You seem kind of out of it." "Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm just going to miss you guys." I try to smile. "Yeah. We're going to miss you too." By this time Adam had left. "But hey! Adam and Dylan had a nice afternoon together." I'd say anything to change the subject. "Oh, really?" "Really? That's good. I'm really sorry about punching him. I thought he was going to try something else and I just got sick of him." He really seemed sad. "Aw. Don't worry about it. None of us knew his intentions and it's good to know my little brother isn't afriad to stand up for his big sister." I say ruffling his hair. He smirked. "So, did you and Adam set up like some sort of schedule for him to visit Dylan or is it just a one time thing?" "Not yet. He's going to call sometime, though." "Well, that should be fun." "Yeah, it will be." Jake and I don't say anything fro a moment. "Well, I really need to go Sarah. We'll call you when we get there, Sarah." "Ok! You two have fun!" "Yeah... we'll try."

!ALYSSAS POV!

"Alyssa, wake up. We need to leave in 20 minutes if we want to get to the airport on time." Jake said as he shook me. I groan and roll over on my stomach when Jake turns the lights on. "Just...I want to sleep." I whined. I could feel him roll his eyes when i stuck my head under my pillow. Surprisingly, Jake's the early bird and I am the night owl. Jake pulls the covers off of me and takes the pillow off of my head. I feel like a teenager again. This is what went on just about every morning before school. "I thought you couldn't wake up with an alarm clock." I said as i sat up and yawned. "I couldn't sleep last night." He said as he grabbed my arm and pulled me up so I was standing. I looked at him. He was already completely dressed and our suitcases were sitting by the door. I went to the closet and grabbed a pair of jeans and a shirt. "Ugh. I hate airplanes.", I complain as I pull my jeans up. I'm not exactly the happiest person in the morning. "Yeah, well it's too far to drive.", He said as he sat down on the bed. I look up at him and see he's just sitting. Nothing else. "What are you doing?", I ask him. "Waiting for you. Now put some clothes on and let's go." I roll my eyes as I pull the shirt over my head. I quickly brush my teeth, wash my face, and brush my hair and we're out of there. After a plane ride that seems like foooorever long, we arrive in southern Florida. We get to the hotel we're staying at and get settled. We lay on the bed and turn on the TV. Jake is unusually quiet. "Do you feel any better about moving now that we're here?" Without even taking his eyes off the TV he says, "No." I scoot closer to him and lay my head on his chest. "Not even a little bit?" I ask looking up at him. He smiles slightly and shrugs. "I still don't know. This whole thing is confusing." "Just, don't make your decision because you feel pressured to make one. Do what you think is best for our family. Now that we're away from the others, that should be easier." This time he gives me a full fleged smile. "Thanks. I love you." "I love you too."The first day we just went around the town and went sightseeing. The next day, we had to wake up early (again) and looked at a few houses. We walked into the first one and my jaw dropped. It was huge. 3 stories with 7 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms. "Can we even afford this?", i asked Jake. Stunned, he answered "This is within the price range my boss gave me for picking out a new house." "Wow." It was overwhelming. The rest of the houses we looked at were around the same size and all about the same price. At the hotel, I asked Jake what he thought about moving after seeing all those houses. "I think that just made me even more confused. We don't need a house that big but it sure would be nice...Everything here just seems so much more superficial than it is in Illinois. But it's not quite as bad as L.A." Part of me was saying to move and take advantage of housing allowance and moving expenses but the other part was screaming not to. To just stay. Which part am I supposed to listen to?

!KEVINS POV!

Alyssa and Jake left for Florida yesterday. Sarah and Kyle and Audrey and I were going to take turns watching the kids. A few days of Jake and Alyssa being gone, it was time for someone from the adoption agency to come look at our house. We left all the kids except for Eve with Sarah. The house was completely spotless, as usual, and we waited. Audrey had gone to great heights to make this whole meeting completely flawless. She had even put little snacks on the table. About 10 minutes after the lady was supposed to arrive, Audrey was freaking out. "Where is she? This is just too stressful. Did she get lost? Did she decide to deny our application without giving us a chance?" Right when Audrey stopped her almost nervous breakdown, the doorbell rang. "Hello. I'm so sorry I'm late. I had some car trouble." "Oh! That's fine!" Audrey says, letting the woman into the house, and seeming completely fine now. I walked into the foyer, carrying Eve. "Hi, I'm Vanessa Drew and I'll be checking out your family and your house so I can confirm or deny your adoption request," the lady says, becoming very formal. "Hello. I'm Audrey and this is my husband, Kevin and this is our daughter, Eve." After the introductions we went into the living room. "Ok. If you don't mind, I'm just goint to ask you some basic questions about your home life and families and background. Very basic stuff." We all take a seat, Eve sitting in my lap. "First of all, where are the two of you employed?" "I'm a Kindergarten teacher," I answer first. "And I'm a Children's psychologist," Audrey answers, ringing her hands. Vanessa scribbles something on a tablet. "Ok, very nice. And why do you want to adopt?" Audrey takes this question. "Well, Christian was actually one of my patients and after hearing everything he'd been through, I knew I wanted to adopt him." "What do you feel you can bring to Christian as a parent?" I take this question, knowing our complete answer. "We feel that we can bring a stable home, a good education, a promising future, and most importantly, a loving home." We answer a few more questions about employment situations and such. "So, each of you tell me about your background. What was your childhood like?" Audrey goes first. "I had two very loving parents and a twin sister. My father passed away when I was a sophomore in high school, which helped me to mature a lot for my age. My parents made sure that I knew from right and wrong and were always there for me and my sister was always supportive." Audrey looks at me. "And I met Kevin when we were in seventh grade." We laugh. "Yeah. I always grew up with both parents and two older sisters. I think having two older sisters really helped me mature a lot faster than most boys my age. All in all, I was a good kid because of the love and support that my family gave me." "Very good.", she said as she scribbled something down on her pad. "How do would you or, do you, rather discipline children?" I take this question, being the most authoritative disciplinarian in the house. "Thankfully, we don't have too much trouble Eve." I can see Eve grin. "But when we do, we use methods of time and make sure that she knows what she did wrong. We do not use any form of physical punishment. Not even spanking." "Ok, I think we're just about done here" Vanessa says a few questions later. "Just one more question." I nod. "Do you keep any weapons in the house such as guns etc.?" Audrey and I look at each other and both shake our heads. "No, we don't," Audrey says. "Ok. That's about it. It was very nice to meet you and you should hear from somebody within a week."

!KYLES POV!

I was actually really happy to have Rylee, Cayden, and Crystal stay at our house while Alyssa and Jake were gone. Even though I am a guy and seem to be very emotionally stable and cool, Jake and Alyssa moving and Adam showing up at the same time is killing me. Sarah and I will have to get busy again, though. I really like having little girls around the house. They tell the boys what to do. Having all these kids here, really kept our mind off Jake and Alyssa. It was crazy how emotional it was for all of us. At the same time, Audrey and Kevin were trying to adopt. It was a good distraction. On Monday, I hear the doorbell ring. I go to answer it and see a very tan Alyssa standing at the door. "Hey Alyssa! How was Florida?" I ask as I give her a hug. "Hey Kyle! It was good. I love the weather and the beaches." "Did you find any houses?" She nodded. "We saw a lot of huge ones on the beach. They're soo nice but Jake is still questioning the whole move." "Oh, yeah." Both of us pause. "Well, the kids were great! We loved having them here!" All of a sudden, we hear lots of little footsteps. "Mommy!" I can hear Crystal yell. Three little Bakers were clinging to Alyssa's legs. "Hi, honey." Alyssa says as she picks up Crystal and gives her a kiss. "Well, we better get going. Thank you so much for watching them." "It was no trouble at all." "Tell Uncle Kyle thank you" Alyssa tells them. "Thanks Uncle Kyle!" they all yell as they leave.


End file.
